


Confidence

by wallaby24



Category: Political RPF, Political RPF - UK 20th-21st c.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 09:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17180366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallaby24/pseuds/wallaby24
Summary: Theresa returns to the Downing Street flat the night of the confidence vote.





	Confidence

Theresa stepped inside to a round of cheers from staff…but her focus was on Philip, who was hurrying toward her. “Well done!” he called out. And then his arms were around her, and he pressed a light kiss to her temple. Another cheer went up from the crowd, and she gave him a mildly disapproving look once he pulled away.

“I can’t help it,” he said with a grin. “I’m proud of you.”

She smiled back. “I suppose you did earn it.” And he had—he had spent the early part of the week taking personal charge of the operation to secure her votes.

Laughing with relief that everything was over, she let herself be swept along by exuberant staffers and given wine and her favorite crisps. At one point, she was distantly aware that Philip seemed to have snuck off, but he soon returned, still beaming at her.

But as happy as she was to celebrate briefly, what she really wanted was to be upstairs, relaxing alone with her husband. She glanced at her watch—she had about a half hour before Brandon Lewis and Mick Davis were due to Downing Street for a late night meeting. A half hour she could spend in Philip’s arms.

She caught his eye from across the room, made her excuses, and slipped upstairs with him.

“You go sit down,” he said as she stepped out of her heels and let him help her with her jacket. “I’ve got a blanket ready for you.”

“Ready?” she asked as she moved toward the couch.

“In the dryer,” he explained, and she felt herself warming from inside. It had been absolutely freezing in the street, and, as usual, she was slow to get warm. The best she could say, after twenty minutes downstairs, was that she was at least no longer shivering.

And Philip, of course, had known this without asking.

“Here we are,” he said brightly, returning with a fluffy blanket in his arms. “Freshly heated for you, darling.” He sat down next to her, settled the warm blanket over them, and then wrapped her in his arms, a second layer against the chill.

“I should have worn a coat,” Theresa said.

Philip chuckled. “You probably should have. But we’ll get you warm.”

She sighed, letting the heat of the blanket seep into her bones and resting her head on Philip’s shoulder. She’d wanted him to hold her all day, and she was so very tired. She’d barely slept the night before, and she’d had an early morning in Brussels before her flight back to London, followed by a nightmare of a day. And she had another early flight tomorrow, when what she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep for a week.

But she couldn’t go to bed, because Brandon and Mick were coming, so Philip’s chest would have to suffice for now. The sweet warmth of being loved was settling over her again, the same way it had when she’d met his eyes in the gallery that afternoon, and she thanked God yet again for this man.

“Darling, you made me very proud today,” she heard him say. “I was so proud when I saw you in the House, and then again tonight—”

She didn’t have the emotional reserves for this much kindness at the moment, and she felt a burning in the bridge of her nose. She managed a chuckle that she knew had the sound of hidden tears. “You always say that when I’m in the middle of a mess.”

“Because your strength under fire is one of the things that makes me most proud.”

Theresa didn’t think she had it in her to answer that and instead snuggled closer to him, feeling him press a kiss to the top of her head. He was warm, and the blanket was warm, and his arms were so comforting around her… She let herself rest, her body going limp, the world drifting further and further away as Philip gently stroked her arm.

\---

_Ding._ The sound of her mobile phone, which she had left on the arm of the couch, pulled her from sleep. She sat up slowly, firmly rubbing her eyes and fighting the sudden disorientation.

“Surely you don’t need to…” Philip began, but she ignored him and reached for her phone.

“That’ll be my meeting,” she said, a glance at the text confirming it.

“Your _meeting_?”

“Brandon Lewis and Mick Davis are on their way over to discuss the vote results.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Philip snapped. “This is _mental_. You were _sleeping_ ; this is nothing that can’t wait till morning—”

“I’m sorry,” she said weakly. “I can’t refuse to see the party chairman after a confidence vote—”

“Don’t be sorry—he’s the one that should be _sorry_. It’s after ten; you barely slept and you’ve been up for hours fighting this _insanity_ , the least they could do is allow you a few hours rest. No consideration at all! How they can _not_ see how tired you are…”

She slipped her shoes and her jacket back on and left Philip ranting.

\---

Theresa realized when she sat down with Brandon and Mick that she was absolutely exhausted: so exhausted that she was not sure how she held her eyes open as they went on and on about today’s numbers, and the likeliest list they could create of the 200…and her trip to Brussels tomorrow. The last thing she wanted, she thought, was to be going to Europe tomorrow. Going alone to Europe. Without Philip. She’d see him briefly in the morning, and then not again until Friday night.

She was used to leaving him, of course. But at the moment, when she was so tired, and so stressed, and so at the end of her rope, she could imagine nothing worse than a night alone in a cold hotel room, with no one to talk to or snuggle up to at the end of the day.

At last Lewis and Davis finished with her, and she slowly made her way back to the flat. She’d spend a bit more time with Philip, trying to store up his smiles and his hugs for the next two days alone, before finally collapsing into bed.

She found him still on the couch, but with his laptop this time, typing quickly.

“Ah, you’re back!” he said, closing the lid of his computer. “Finished for the evening?”

She sighed. “I hope so. What were you up to?”

“Email to the office. Letting them know I’ll be working remotely tomorrow—I’m going with you to Brussels.”

“What?” She stared at him, not comprehending.

“I’m going with you to Brussels. You’re exhausted and stressed, and you’re having a tough week, and I want to make sure I can help you.”

It was too much kindness and too much relief when she was too exhausted, and she immediately started to cry.

“Oh, my darling!” Philip exclaimed, leaping to his feet and reaching for her. She let herself be settled back on the couch, his arms around her. “Were they horrible to you in your meeting?”

“No,” she managed, shaking her head. “I j-just didn’t…I didn’t want to-to go alone tomorrow.”

“Well, you don’t have to, sweetheart,” he said with another of his warm smiles, a soft look in his eyes as though she were the only thing in the world that mattered. His left arm was wrapped around her and his right hand was stroking her leg. “Is that all that’s wrong?”

She nodded, wiping her eyes, although her tears continued to flow. “I’m just so _tired_ , and you’re being so _kind_ …”

Another of those smiles that always undid her, accompanied by that gentle look that made her trust him with anything. “Of course. I love you, and I want to make sure you’re okay.”

She moved closer, laying her head on his shoulder. “It really means the world to me for you to go,” she whispered.

“Darling, you know I’d do anything for you.”

And she did. She knew that very well. It was the knowledge of his love that got her through days like today.

“I know,” she said after a brief silence. “Knowing that made the hardest parts of today easier. I knew—I know that when I do leave someday, I’ll have you in the car with me. I’ll always have you.”

“You will.” He kissed the top of her head. “You’re quite stuck with me.”

A few minutes passed as she relaxed against him, her tears slowing. “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said eventually.

“Earlier?”

“Having to leave for that meeting. And about what a mess our schedule is because of me.”

“Don’t be sorry! Not to me. Theresa, the last thing you have to do is apologize to me for any of this.”

She knew that, but it didn’t stop her from feeling guilty every time she was reminded that their lives revolved around the insanity of her position. She knew her schedule was inconvenient and that he was constantly forced to work around it, she knew they weren’t together as much as they both would have liked, she knew their time together was constantly interrupted, she knew he worried about her stress and her health and her exhaustion, she knew he wished he could take better care of her.

“I just hate that I’m always leaving,” she said softly.

“Well, tomorrow I’ll be leaving with you.” He gave her another kiss. “But you shouldn’t feel bad about it…you have a really important job to do, and you’re working harder than I can imagine anyone else working. You’re doing good, important, selfless work. You’re doing the right thing.”

She felt her eyes burning again at his words, and she swallowed. His arm tightened around her in a gentle squeeze, and she knew he could sense her emotions without so much as a glance at her face.

“Would you like me to run you a bath?” he asked. “We ought to think about bed.”

A hot soak sounded heavenly, but bed even more so, and she knew she wanted the option that kept her away from Philip for the least amount of time. “No thank you. I’ll just take a shower since that’s faster, and then I’ll come lie down with you.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek.

\---

She was soon snuggled up with her husband in their bed, wrapped in blankets with her head tucked against his chest, fighting to hold her eyes open.

Although, she realized contentedly as she let her eyes close, there was really no need to stay awake. They wouldn’t have to separate in the morning.


End file.
